3D Systems partners treatment provider for children with heart defects

3D Systems has partnered with OpHeart, a non-profit organisation who work to provide medical treatment to children born with life-threatening heart defects, by providing paediatric heart surgeons with the 3D-printed tools needed to prepare and rehearse complex surgeries.

The 3D printing company segments 2D imaging data to create a 3D digital model, which is then 3D printed and shipped worldwide. 3D Systems creates the 3D printed models through a combination of its D2P software as well as ProJet CJP 660Pro 3D ColorJet printer and VisiJet materials. The company’s biomedical engineers convert the 2D MRI or CT scan data of the heart into a 3D model using the D2P stand-alone modular software package, which is designed to address and consolidate all 3D model preparation steps.

Kate Weimer, vice president of medical devices at 3D systems, said: “Feedback from the surgeons we’ve worked with through OpHeart is that our anatomical models are tremendously helpful to them in delivering successful patient outcomes. We are proud to help OpHeart deliver on its mission. We are also grateful for the opportunity to communicate the benefit of 3D printed surgical models. The models we create for OpHeart clearly demonstrate the power of 3D printing.”

3D Systems works directly with Anne Garcia, who founded OpHeart in 2015, six months after her own daughter, Ariana, was born with a life-threatening heart defect.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, 1% of all children are born with Congenital Heart Defects (CHDs), making it the most common birth defect. Tens of thousands require surgery each year in the U.S. in order to survive. 3D Systems has used its 20 years of anatomical modelling expertise and end-to-end medical workflow to support OpHeart’s mission over the past four years by providing accurate, detailed anatomical models of patients with Congenital Heart Disease to surgeons.

Anne Garcia said: “We fiercely believe that the ability to 3D print a replica of a CHD patient’s heart is an invaluable tool that can, to put it bluntly, save lives. By giving surgeons the ability to practice and plan for complex surgeries that involve reconnecting vessels as thin as human hairs in hearts no larger than a strawberry, it only stands to reason that the quality of surgery improves. We want every child with a life-threatening heart defect to benefit from this technology.”

Dr Jorge Salazar, chief of paediatric and congenital heart surgery at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, and a member of the OpHeart Board of Directors, said: “From a surgeon’s perspective, the incorporation of 3D printing into our craft is enabling tremendous breakthroughs. The full colour 3D printed models provided by 3D Systems have enabled us to achieve outcomes previously considered unobtainable. Their expertise and technology are helping us advance treatment and improve patient outcomes.”